


He'd Be Proud

by DramaticCrys



Series: Final Space Oneshots [1]
Category: Final Space (Cartoon)
Genre: Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22369432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DramaticCrys/pseuds/DramaticCrys
Summary: Set sometime between Gary adopting Little Cato and the Season 2 finale.Little Cato has been plagued with nightmares since long before he met Gary, but this is the first time he felt inclined to seek comfort.
Relationships: Avocato/Gary Goodspeed, Gary Goodspeed & Little Cato
Series: Final Space Oneshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623109
Comments: 7
Kudos: 102





	He'd Be Proud

Little Cato shoots up in bed, his eyes are crazed and he has to bite on his fist to stop himself from screaming out. He sucks in a few breaths, trying to get his manic breathing under control to no avail. His chest hurts from how deeply he's breathing, if you can call it "breathing." Tears well in his eyes as he looks around the room. He can't remember exactly what made him so upset, but he knows deep down what it was. 

He can just picture the snarl on his father's face. But this time, he wasn't possessed by Invictus. The snarl was directed strictly at Little Cato and what a disappointment he was. Avocato had left Little Cato to die alone. To wallow in his own shame. 

He wipes his eyes and pulls his blanket off himself. He tries to steady his breathing by following the method that Gary taught him after witnessing Little Cato have a panic attack not too long ago, but it wasn't working very well. After taking a few deep breaths he stands, although a bit shaky and unstable, and he runs down the hall. 

His feet hit the floor loudly due to the silence that drapes over the ship. He sniffs and quickly wipes his eye once more before he stops in front of Gary's door. Little Cato raises his hand to knock, but stops. 

His thoughts plague him like a disease. Is he bothering Gary, by coming to him like this? He shakes his head. No, Gary wants you here. He wants you to feel safe. He said to come to him when he wasn't feeling well. Yeah but did he mean that or did he just say that to make you feel better? 

Against his best judgement, he knocks on the door. 

"Come in." Little Cato jumps at how quick the response was and nervously walks in. Gary is in his sleepwear, a tank top and some pajama pants. He's sitting in bed like he was just sleeping, but the bags under his eyes say he hasn't slept a wink. 

"What's up kid? Is everything alright?" Gary rubs his eyes and gestures for Little Cato to come closer.

"I uh, yeah. I'm fine." Little Cato takes a step closer, but stops in the middle of the room. He begins to tap his foot against the ground. Gary waits for him to continue with a patient smile. "You know what? Th-this was stupid. I'm gonna go." Gary quickly moves to stand. He's kneeling on the bed, his arm slightly reached out, as if he wants to pull Little Cato to his chest and comfort him, but Gary stops himself before any of that ensues.

"Are you sure? We can talk about it if you'd like." Little Cato looks from the door to Gary. Gary offers a small smile and pats the bed. 

"Do you want to sit?" Little Cato nods and walks over. Gary sighs and moves so he can comfortably lean back against the wall.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Gary doesn't move to look at Little Cato, he just stares straight ahead of him. Little Cato thinks Gary does this to give him some privacy, as Gary knows Little Cato is still new to the whole idea of "expressing his feelings". It's almost as if Gary feels this will somehow help make him feel more comfortable.

Little Cato shakes his head. "I don't know." He says after realizing Gary wasn't looking at him. Gary turns his gaze to Little Cato, the young boy pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them close. His ears were flat against his head and his shoulders were tense. A few minutes pass as they sit in a tense, yet comforting silence. Just enjoying the heat radiating off the other and the company.

"I had a nightmare." Gary admits. Little Cato looks to Gary, slightly surprised.

"You did?" Gary nods. 

"I have nightmares a lot lately." Gary laughs slightly as he says this. Little Cato looks to the ground and back to Gary nervously. 

"What about?" Gary ponders for a moment. 

"I used to have nightmares about the Lord Commander, with you know, the whole ripping my arm off thing." Little Cato winces. "But after your dad, you know, I started dreaming of him." Little Cato's eyes widen and he turns to face Gary completely. 

"What do you dream of?" Gary sighs and pushes his head harder against the wall.

"Losing him." Gary sighs and rubs his forehead with his robot hand. "I always feel like I could've done more to save him. That's actually why I'm awake now." Little Cato sighs 

"That's uh, why I'm here too." 

"You had a nightmare?" 

"Yeah, but it was different than usual. This time, it wasn't about losing my dad, it was," Little Cato pauses and bites his lip, "it was about him leaving me." Gary turns to Little Cato.

"When did he leave you?" Little Cato rolled his eyes and sighed. 

"When didn't he? He left me when he was working with the Lord Commander, he left me to be imprisoned. And then," Little Cato pauses, "then he left me for good." Little Cato says sadly. Gary swallows and stares down at Little Cato.

"Avocato made a lot of mistakes. But the thing I admired most about him was his willingness to change. He wanted to be there for you, he would've done anything to save you." Little Cato tilted his head towards Gary.

"You think so?" Gary nodded.

"I admired your dad a lot." They sit in silence again. A few moments pass before Little Cato speaks in a quiet voice.

"Did….did you…love my dad?" Little Cato gazes up at Gary, he looks so small. It never occurred to Gary how young Little Cato really is. He's so mature for his age, but how can you not be mature when going through what he had to? Well, right now he looks his age, 14, a young, small boy that shouldn't have to face the roughest side of the world as often as he does.

"Yeah. I loved your dad." Gary sighed contently. He's never said it out loud before, but it felt right saying it.

Little Cato smiled. "He's pretty great isn't he?" Gary smiled and shook his head. 

"Nah, he's the best." Gary said matter-of-factly. Little Cato bit his lip and looked away.

"Could you… could you tell me… about him?" Gary scooted down the bed and fell back. He crossed his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling.

"Well we met because he was trying to kill me."

"That's just how my dad makes friends." Gary laughed and Little Cato lied down next to him.

Gary waved his hands around excitedly as he told the young boy of all the adventures him and his dad went on, and all the things they did to save him. He spoke highly of their friendship and what it meant to Gary. Gary may have exaggerated his and Avocato's awesomeness in most of his stories, but who was going to correct him?

Little Cato listened intently to each of his stories. Absorbing every piece of information he could learn about his dad.

"I wish I would've gotten to know him more. The him without the Lord Commander." Little Cato shook his head and sat up. "Its like, I don't even know who he is. I was gone for 3 years, people change in that amount of time, he doesn't even seem like the same person I knew before…before everything." Little Cato's ears flatten against his head and he scrunches up his face, refusing to let tears fall. Gary sits up as well and pats Little Cato on the back. 

"His personality may have changed bro, but his love for you never did. I didn't know him for long and he never talked about himself. But one thing I knew for sure was that he'd do whatever it took to get you back. He loved you kid." 

"I just wish it didn't cost him, well him." Gary nodded. "And I wish I got to tell him that I loved him too."

"He knows little buddy. Just know that he'd be so proud of you Little Cato. Of the man you're growing to be." Gary swallowed and took a deep breath. He carefully thinks of how to address this situation without overstepping and making Little Cato feel worse. "I'm sorry he can't be here to see it, I know what it feels like to be alone like this." Gary leaned down slightly so he was level with Little Cato, he places his hand on Little Cato's shoulder and offered a smile as he turns Little Cato to face him. "I just hope you know that you aren't alone. Not here, not while I'm alive. I've got your back kid, for life." Little Cato smiled and wiped his eyes. 

"Thanks Gary." Little Cato looked down before back up at him. He launched at Gary and wrapped his arms around his neck. Gary stumbled back slightly but was able to catch himself before falling against the bed. Gary paused as he took in what was happening, as he took in the warmth that surrounded Little Cato, and is that purring he's hearing?

"Anytime bud." Gary wrapped his arms around Little Cato tightly. 

Little Cato places his hands against Gary's neck, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat luring him to sleep in a few moments. Gary smiles when he sees that Little Cato is finally getting some sleep. Gary brushes some of the blue hair out of his face and leans down to kiss his forehead. 

"Goodnight Spider-Cat." Little Cato snuggles closer, oh that's definitely purring. 

"Goodnight Dad."


End file.
